


God, We’re A Mess

by orphan_account



Category: Benjaminutes - Fandom, The Riftdale Chronicles (Web Series)
Genre: Abusive Parents, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Art Student Bart, Bart has a cat named Mona whom he loves, Cats, Christian Being a Bad Person, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gay Panic, Hurt/Comfort, I think?, Jealousy, Kidnapping, Multi, Okay Maybe more than a little angst, Robbery, Slow Burn, Social Anxiety, Stress, coffee shop AU, dont worry, more cats, only a little tho, slight angst, someone had to do it, that someone being me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-16 21:42:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16962006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The coffee shop au no one asked for but gets anyways.Bart is a stressed art student, attempting to get by on caffeine and caffeine alone.Claire is paranoid but also needs money for a place to live, so he attempts at working at Oculus’ Coffee Shop. And hey, it’s not going too bad.Damn, he jinxed it, didn’t he?





	God, We’re A Mess

**Author's Note:**

> Imagine Riftdale but not as insane and crazy and you’ll get this fun little au. I don’t know why I thought this was a good idea but here we go down this rabbit hole.
> 
> (Also known as “how many times can ant fit the word coffee into a single chapter?”)

If Bart’s learned anything from his time in college, is that there will never be a limited supply of stress. He’s doing his best with cramped hands and broken pencils and, oh, did I forget to mention coffee?

Generally Bart never desired the, in his opinion, gross tasting beverage that is coffee. Much less did he ever see himself going to a coffee shop at 7pm on a Monday night like the hipster he may or may not be. Maybe he should be grateful that his parents even considered paying for college and not quietly complaining to himself how tired he is. It’s no secret with the bags under his eyes anyway.

When he opens the door and the little bell chimes it feels oddly warm in the small area, with quiet murmurs of other patrons spread through the air. 

Oculus’ Coffee Shop, open 24/7. He only knew that because he had stared at the sign for who knows how long, debating just turning around and not having to deal with talking to anyone. Damn you, social anxiety. 

But he breathed in the oddly scented smells and walked over to the counter, already having decided what he was going to order before arriving there. What? There’s nothing wrong with being prepared.

The man at the counter is... well, Bart can’t decide between cute and a complete mess. Apparently you can be both at the same time. There’s no line for Bart to wait in, since the cafe was not a necessarily crowded place, so he went up to order.

The man looked up from from something he was reading. An article, maybe? And greeted Bart. His name tag read “Claire”, it was pinned onto a messily thrown on work outfit. Blond, almost white hair jetted out from under a beanie. And- was that tinfoil poking out from under the beanie? Bart didn’t think too much about it, just ordering his latte. He gave Claire his name and went to find a place to sit, settling with a small table by the window. 

He wasted no time getting to work, opening his laptop and working on an essay about an artist that Bart had already forgotten the name of within a span of three seconds. That must’ve been a world record. He received his drink not too long after starting the first paragraph and got lost in working.

-

Bart tiredly rubs any sleep from his eyes, his retinas probably burning from staring at a screen for so long.

Hm, Bart quietly wondered what time it was, looking down at the tiny numbers on his laptop.

Is it- damn, is it 4am? Bart feels the panic crawling up him. Surely it couldn’t be that late- or early?- his parents would’ve called at least once.

Bart grabs his phone from his pocket and- well, okay, his parents have been calling him, he just had it on silent.

Welp, time to run home and hopefully sneak into his room before anyone sees him. He’s 22 for Christ’s sake, he shouldn’t even be living with his parents at this point. It’s totally not his fault he started college late and doesn’t have a job. Nope!

He sighs, deciding that ignoring his problems will only bring more problems, and gets up. He had paid for his drinks so he didn’t worry about that as he walked out the door with his laptop closed at his side, but he did worry about being yelled at once he got home.

 

He arrived to his admittedly small house at 4:45am, and he silently prayed that he could sneak up stairs and pass out on his bed without anyone noticing. He hopes he hasn’t kept Mona up- his tiny cat, who can’t sleep without being curled up next to him. She’s adorable, but horribly annoying. Maybe that’s just how all cats are.

A light is on in the kitchen, but he takes a breath and goes inside nonetheless. It’s better than sleeping outside in the cold, wet grass anyways.

 

****

Claire grumbles as he brushes off his pants. He probably could’ve found a better place to sleep that wasn’t cold and wet and would give him grass stains, but it gets the job done he guesses.

He started working at that pitiful cafe about two weeks ago, and he’s gotten accustomed to actually getting a few hours of sleep before heading to work. Sometimes he was too caught up with his theories, but his theories were important matters that he needed to spend time on, so losing sleep didn’t bother him.

His boss was... okay. Oculus, the mans name was, ran the coffee shop named after him. Or maybe he was named after it, who knew. 

Oculus was extremely strict, and Claire barely got any breaks. But that was okay, it payed moderately and that was more than he could ask for.

But he didn’t necessarily enjoy working there. He thought about the unreasonable amount of customers this tiny shop got in one day as he walked in that morning. He barely remember anyone’s faces, never mind names.

He got lost in the conspiracy he was reading about currently, only looking up when he heard someone approach. Blurs of people Claire would probably never see again passed by as the day went on. Nothing unusual.

The sun was more than set as 7pm rolled around. He had an all day shift today, besides the bit around lunch when he got his break. He sighed as he flipped through the pages of something about the moon landing. It was actually really interesting, but no one took Claire seriously. But that’s alright, Claire didn’t need them. One day they’ll see the truth. One day.

He was dragged out of his thoughts by the door chime, and he looked up in time to see someone walk over to him. Just another customer.

But- something was different, the way this strangers beret was hung loosely on top of his head, glasses barely covering fairly obvious bags, and sparkling brown eyes that lured Claire to him. Hm. He’s sure it was nothing. Maybe he’s just seen him before.

 

Claire found himself glancing from time to time to the table by the window where someone, who’s name he learned was Bart sat.

Claire was suspicious of the feeling in his stomach. Something was up with this guy, surely. Maybe. Possibly?

He couldn’t pinpoint why he felt this way to a stranger he’s never met. Claire isn’t stupid, there has to be something going on here. Why else would his stomach do something akin to flipping and his cheeks suddenly feel hot. A shortness of breath, almost.

At this point, he is determined to figure out whatever the fuck is happening and WHO is behind this.

**Author's Note:**

> uhhh maybe expect weekly updates? Yes? No? Maybe so?


End file.
